


Hull Breach Drill

by Amrita_Vein



Category: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Accidental Plot, Alien Biology, Cock Worship, Dom/sub Undertones, Eli has a very detailed imagination, Eli is insubordinate, First Time Together, Frottage, I don't know how spaceships work, I shamelessly gave up on the plot, Love Confession, Loving oral sex, M/M, More tags to be added, Public Sex, Rough Oral Sex, Shameless Smut, Thrawn is a service top, Thrawn is okay with it, Xeno, sexual fantasies, so they can bang more in chp 4, some made-up space science, the bad guy goes to jail, they think they are going to die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:00:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22920634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amrita_Vein/pseuds/Amrita_Vein
Summary: Eli imagined himself in this position many times, the circumstances around it usually identical.He never thought it would happen because of a routine hull breach drill. Stars, he never thought it would happen at all.
Relationships: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto
Comments: 38
Kudos: 80





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli Vanto is summoned to the bridge.

He imagined himself in this position many times, the circumstances around it usually identical.

His comm beeped, “Commander Vanto, your presence is requested on the bridge.” There was never a need to specify _who_ was requesting him, he already knew.

The doors slid open to his code cylinder and he strode past the two Death Troopers guarding the entrance.

There he was, standing on the catwalk above the crew pits, his posture straight and back to him. A regal statue standing in silhouette, framed by the infinite blackness of space and an unending number of stars. The additional ships of the Task Force could seen holding formation through the viewports. So much power and ruthless beauty on display.

Eli took a hesitant breath and walked forward.

“Ah, Commander,” Thrawn’s piercing appraisal held him trapped, glowing eyes pointedly traveling through length of his body, lingering on his lips a moment before he spoke again.

“If you will.” And he inclined his head in the briefest of nods.

“Here?” Eli asked, stuttering, as he flushed with embarrassment.

“I did not specify elsewhere.”

Eli fought to maintain his composure while he held Thrawn’s gaze for a long moment before eventually sinking down onto his knees, never breaking eye contact with his Admiral.

A cool hand reaches out to cup his face and he leaned into the touch, reveling in it. Long fingers carded through his hair and knocked the officer’s cap from his head. Eli cringed briefly as he watched the cap flutter down into the crew pits. Humiliation colored his cheeks. Before his mind could wander farther, the grip on his hair tightened and pulled his focus back to him.

“I believe you know what to do.”

Eli glanced around him, at the crew below who were making pointed efforts to ignore them and failing. Their discreet, side-eyed glances tracking his every movement. Hesitantly, he reached up and placed a trembling hand on his Admiral’s hip, the other reaching under Thrawn’s tunic to undo the clasp of his trousers.

He nosed against Thrawn’s hip and inhaled his scent then, familiar and grounding. In this instant, it was only the two of them. He reached up and delicately palmed at his mound, massaging the organ beneath the skin with his warm hands before pressing his tongue against his slit. 

Thrawn’s eyes blinked shut a moment and he exhaled barely audibly as Eli’s tongue went to work preparing him. He pressed deliberate kisses tracing the opening before working his tongue inside and teasing the organ awake. He let his mouth hang open as he pressed his tongue boldly against the now twitching tentacle and began to lap up that liquidy essence that was so distinctly _Thrawn_.

Thrawn, who contentedly sighed when his tentacle finally released from its slit and squirmed toward Eli’s ready mouth. 

Eli laved his tongue along the indigo length, pressing the warmth of his mouth against it, celebrating it. He pressed kisses against the taught skin of Thrawn’s stomach before dipping his head lower to trace his tongue along the fold of the admiral’s slit, pressing inward and stimulating the little bundles of nerves around the opening.

His mouth becoming soft and pliant, Thrawn’s tentacle brushed past his lips without any resistance. Eli’s blown-open eyes flicked up and the twin red orbs focusing intently - _exclusively-_ on him. He shuddered and swallowed around Thrawn, the rest of the bridge fading away completely.

“Commander Vanto, _Eli,_ you are being so good for me, so eager, and your attention to detail is, ah, _exquisite_. You deserve all the praise I can give you and so much more.”

Eli shamelessly moaned at the praise and redoubled his efforts to pleasure his Admiral, nearly coming undone himself when the Chiss called him by his first name. Joyfully now, barely able to maintain eye contact with his lazily-focused eyes, Eli looked up at the man he loved through long lashes and swallowed around him, taking him to the hilt.

It did not take much of this before Thrawn wrested control away from Eli and began fucking his face in earnest, tentacle flush against the back of his throat, its girth wrenching Eli’s jaws open wide enough he will be aching tomorrow. Eli’s caf brown eyes watered and his breaths became ragged but he did not struggle against Thrawn’s iron grip on his skull. Instead, he completely surrendered to his Admiral. The upturned corners of Thrawn’s lips and increasing force of his thrusts caused Eli’s heart to flutter erratically, he worried he would soon come from simply getting his face fucked while Thrawn looked at him like _that_. He found he could not stop moaning, no longer aware of the sounds he was making as he gasped for air, gagging and crying in front of the entire bridge. His own burning erection painfully ignored.

A strong jerk of his hips and a slight grunt before Thrawn eventually released inside his throat. It always took Eli by surprise, the force of Thrawn’s orgasm as the come pulsed down his throat. Strong hands held Eli’s boneless form tight against his hips until he swallowed it all. And when Thrawn eventually pulled out, a final glob dripped onto his commander’s flushed, tear-streaked face, his lips open with drool and come dribbling onto the front of his uniform.

He leaned back, sitting down onto his heels, his knees hurting from the durasteel plating of the catwalk. His erratic breaths heavy and his swollen lips slick with saliva and come while his own arousal was painfully ignored and on display. He felt exactly as ruined as he looked.

Thrawn flicked his eyes over the Eli while he casually fastened up his trousers before he turned on his heels and exited the bridge. Eli remained kneeling alone on the catwalk, used and panting, the world slowly coming into focus around him...

* * *

  
  


At least, that’s how it goes in his fantasies, most of the time. Other times, Eli is bent over Thrawn’s chair and fucked until he can’t remember his name. Or his face is pressed against the viewport and he’s unsure if the stars he’s seeing are real or imagined as the admiral throttles his ass with his belt. Or his fists. Or just having one of his personal Death Troopers fuck him instead because Eli isn’t worth the Admiral’s time.

He never thought it would happen because of a routine hull breach drill gone terribly wrong. Stars, he never thought it would actually happen at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaw! So that was the fantasy, up next is the reality. Accidental plot and gratuitous bridge sex on the way in chapter 2.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Admiral Thrawn thought he had accounted for every possible variable in the planned simulation. 
> 
> Turns out, he hadn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much RightHandofFenHarel for the beta on this chapter! 💕
> 
> This chapter has probably the most dialogue I’ve ever written in story. I hope I did the characters justice!

Eli sat at Thrawn’s side and tapped away at his datapad, recording his observations of the other officers in the room.

It was the final scheduled meeting for the _ISD Chimaera’s_ senior staff to discuss an upcoming major hull breach simulation and total evacuation drill. For weeks, all departments had been collaborating and planning this scenario, the amount of coordination required for this was monumental. Simply put, nothing like this event had ever been done before in the Navy. On the surface, the scenario appeared simple: conduct a ship-wide emergency escape drill; but seeing as this plan involved Admiral Thrawn, it was anything but.

The _Chimaera’s_ upcoming total evacuation drill was going to completely change everything the Empire knew about crisis response and loss-mitigation.

At a randomized point some time in the next ten days, a false hull breach alarm would sound off. Rapidly, the situation would escalate as the crew- the majority of whom were uninformed about this plan at all- would have to deal with the deteriorating conditions. Eventually, the simulation would create the appearance of a reactor meltdown and all thirty thousand crew members of the _Chimaera_ would have to follow emergency shutdown and evacuation procedures. 

The entire crew would then strap into escape pods and spacecraft, as they would in a real Abandon Ship scenario. Those who were to evacuate in spacecraft would actually deploy from the docking bay and hangars, assuming a close-mesh formation around the _Chimaera._ The rest of the crew would strap into the escape pods and be surprised with a memo stating they were to stay put until the drill was complete. 

The senior staff and bridge crew would be the last to evacuate. Eli, Commodore Faro, and Thrawn would stay on the bridge; monitoring the evacuation and ship’s status throughout the event. Once the crew was accounted for, Eli and Commodore Faro would get into the last escape pod and leave Thrawn alone on the bridge where he would attempt to set the ship on a trajectory that would result in the fewest casualties in the resulting explosion. This being a drill, Thrawn would simply readjust the helm's bearing and then call back the crew. Once the drill was concluded and the deployed spacecraft returned, Thrawn would address the entire crew with a speech over the comms detailing the importance of this drill, his observations on the procedure, and announce a ship-wide raise of five percent annual pay.

What Eli would give to be a fly on the wall of High Command when they heard about the raise…

As Admiral, Thrawn had the deciding say in what percentage of crew was considered an acceptable loss. Among most of the Admiralty, figures of ten to thirty percent crew loss were considered ‘good’ and anything below fifty percent ‘acceptable,’ Thrawn’s target of zero-point- zero zero zero zero one percent was considered insane, even for the Chiss’ notably exceptional standards. Worse. was the blowback from High Command when they “somehow” found out about Thrawn’s intended casualty target and that he, himself, would be the sole casualty in an event of this nature.

He and Commodore Faro had already spent a fair number of hours with the _Chimaera’s_ HR and legal teams going over the finer points of naval law regarding the drill, the possible allegations Thrawn could receive of "sabotage". Thrawn wasn't going to be breaking any laws technically, but that was mostly due to the fact the Naval machine was slow to change. Reports indicated that Naval Legal was currently caught up on the semantics of a new code that would prevent Admirals from staying behind on their ships. Eli doubted it would matter either way: Thrawn would not change his mind once made up, nor would his ship fall in battle. The _Chimaera_ was the crown jewel of the navy, at least it was in Eli’s mind, and he was sure that anyone with enough brain cells to actually look at the ship’s stats over the years would agree: no one did things better than Admiral Thrawn. 

And _that_ was why this leak of Thrawn’s plans to High Command was so uniquely unsettling. Hadn’t they made a point to foster a culture of excellence on the ship? Eli had been relentlessly combing through communiques with High Command trying to see who on board had leaked this information but still had no leads. Frustrated, all he could do now was try and apply the observational skills Thrawn had taught him to watching the other officers in this meeting. One of them was likely the mole, but who? Eli would have preferred to be studying his admiral with this discreet scrutiny-- his cheeks flushed at that thought a moment and chided himself. _Now isn't the time,_ he thought, _I need to try an' see who we have to watch out for._ Thrawn might have been okay leaving himself open to attack, but Eli would do everything in his power to protect him.  
  


The plan was settled and final notes were worked out. Thrawn keyed in his command codes and activated a randomized countdown. When the hull breach alarm went off, the evacuation scenario would commence. At this point, everyone was as prepared for the scenario as they could be. But Eli still hadn't figured out who was leaking their plans.

* * *

Four standard days later, the first alarm went off. A hull breach was reported on deck 79, section gamma. Then another alarm, and another. Rapidly, the _Chimaera’s_ ability to deal with these situations diminished. That was when the second phase of the plan began: from the main engineering relay on the bridge, a reactor failure warning began to chime, a blaring harbinger for the doom ahead. The simulated hull breaches were causing the ship to list heavily starboard while the artificial reactor meltdown disrupted most of the ship’s systems. The _Chimaera_ was in emergency-power mode now, and the bridge had a kind of eerie quality to it, illuminated in red light. This was Thrawn’s signal to issue the command to abandon ship. With gravitas in his voice, he spoke into the comm and addressed the crew, all thirty-thousand of them.

“This is Admiral Thrawn speaking, the _Chimaera_ has sustained irreparable damages. I am issuing the order to abandon ship, proceed to your ships and escape pods, Thrawn out.” Thrawn clicked off his comm and looked expectantly down into one of the crew pits.

“Expected time until reactor meltdown, commander?” Thrawn asked the comms officer.

“Approximately seventeen minutes, sir.”

“Sir,” Commodore Faro stepped close to Thrawn and spoke in a low tone, “engineering is reporting irregularities with the simulated reactor meltdown. I’m keeping an eye on it but--

She was cut off as an explosion rocked the ship. A very _real_ explosion. 

“Tell me that’s part of the plan, sir.” Faro glared at Thrawn.

“It is not.” Thrawn looked over to Eli then, “Commander Vanto, find out what caused that explosion.”

Eli tapped away at his workstation and blanched. “Sir, the main reactor has actually overloaded. It- it’s gonna lose containment real quick and--

“--what in sith hells, Vanto?!” Faro yelled and ran to look over his shoulder. Panic settled in among the remaining bridge crew. Faro never lost it on the bridge, something wasn't right.

“Look. This report from engineering on the reactor status. When we programmed the forward thrusters to simulate the hull breach listing, something went haywire with their power relay... looks like it's shorted out the reactor controls… If I had more time, I could look at the data sets and figure it out but we don’t--"

Another explosion rocked the ship, the lights flickered, and the frantic comms officer yelled to Thrawn.

"Admiral! We're getting hundreds of panicked reports from crew- the escape pods haven't been cleared to release and the explosions are setting people's nerves on fire. They, they don't believe this is still a drill."

Thrawn's jaw clenched with the news from the comm. He and Commodore Faro were scrolling through the reports on the reactor's status and power failures when the second explosion hit. He glanced between the countdown clock and the rolling tide of incoming damage reports, then he stood and addressed the comm officer.

“That is because this simulation no longer is a drill. We will simply have to launch the escape pods." Thrawn turned to Faro then, "Commodore, see that a copy of the ship’s logs makes it with you into your pod. What is our estimated time left?”

“Fifteen minutes, sir” Faro said glumly. 

Thrawn scowled and tumbled the situation in his mind before entering in the override codes that were holding the escape pods in place. Eli watched through the viewport as thousands of escape pods jettisoned from the ship joined the formation of spacecraft around the _Chimaera_. 

Addressing the engineering officer, Thrawn then asked, “how large is the expected explosion?”

"It's going to fracture the ship in two, sir."

Again, Thrawn scowled before raising his voice to address the remaining crew on the bridge. “Commodore Faro, bridge crew, it is time for you to leave your positions. Head toward the escape pods, you are officially relieved of duty.”

With much grumbling and haste, the crew vacated their posts and headed toward the escape pods, many saluting Thrawn on their way out. Faro glumly stepped into her ready room for a moment before returning with a stack of datacards. Now only Faro, Thrawn, and Eli remained on the bridge. Faro looked over to Eli, who was furiously entering in lines of code at his workstation.

"We're out of time Vanto, it's time to go. Admiral's orders."

“Wait! I can figure this out, I’ll take the next pod Commodore, give me a few more moments.”

“Very well. Commander, I won't stop you.” Faro looked at Thrawn for a moment and spoke.

“It’s been an honor sir, thank you for being the best damned boss I’ve ever had.” Her voice was tight and clipped. She took her box of datacards and command codes and looked at the two men, saluted, and left the bridge. 

As Faro stepped off the bridge, Eli returned to scrolling through the engine logs. He was working on unlocked the codes to fix the reactor stability. There it was! In the lines of code, he saw an anomaly, focusing on the details for a minute, Eli saw a possible solution scroll by. He would need to see the pattern repeat to verify, but the sketch of an answer was forming in this mind. He just needed a little bit more time...

"You're gonna stick with your plan to pilot the ship away from pods, sir?" Eli asked Thrawn.

“Correct, then I will cut the starboard engines and reverse polarity. That should help put distance between the ship and the pods. When the reactor containment gets to two percent I will enter my command codes to force a cold system restart, causing a vacuum explosion- It should buy more time for the pods to drift away from the ship and save more of crew.”

“But that won’t save you!”

“Eli, I am already lost.”

  
Thrawn's words cut like ice. He really was set on going down with the ship. Where was that pattern in the code already? There had to be another way. The alert system chimed, “ _Warning. Reactor containment at eighteen percent. Core meltdown in nine minutes."_

Thrawn looked over to Eli then, “Eli you need to leave as well. We are out of time. I must pilot the _Chimaera_ far enough away so the explosion won’t destroy all the escape pods nearby.”

“I’m not leaving you Thrawn!”

Thrawn's face hardened. “I am ordering you to abandon ship, commander.”

“No!”

“No?”

Thrawn’s mouth hung open in mute shock for a moment and then twitched. Eli might have questioned his orders before but never defied them. He blinked and then spun on his heel and grasped the steering controls, he leaned into the motion, and swung the ship violently away from the floating pods. Thrawn clicked on the forward thrusters to maximum power to help put some distance between the impending explosion and the crew. Once the new bearing was set, Thrawn moved over to Faro’s command station and began shutting down as many of the ship’s systems as he could, attempting to minimize the damage. 

_“Reactor containment at fourteen percent. Core meltdown in seven minutes."_

Thrawn's voice softened, “Eli, you need to abandon the ship. I will take things from here and see this through to the end." He placed a hand hesitantly on Eli's back in an effort to usher him away from his workstation.

“Just another minute” Eli mumbled in concentration as he scrolled through some reactor logs and saw the pattern repeat again, the solution forming in his mind. He could figure this out. He could save the ship. He could save Thrawn. 

“I believe we are all out of minutes, Eli.” Thrawn had moved his hand onto Eli's shoulder, gripping hard and physically pulling him away from his station. Eli had never seen Thrawn look so morose and resigned. 

“ _Warning. Reactor containment at twelve percent. Core meltdown in six minutes”_

“No Thrawn! I found something, I can fix this...”

“You need to get into one of the pods now! You’re running out of time before you won’t be able to clear the blast zone. You _must_ leave Eli-“

“I’ve got this!” Eli pressed his hair away from his eyes and leaned away from Thrawn, he was typing furiously again.

“Eli—“ Thrawn’s hand left his shoulder and he leaned over to turn the steering column, putting as much force into it as he could, forcing the ship to stay hurtling on its course away from the pods. Then he looked back over to Eli, his normally placid face bunched with emotion. He looked pained

“ _Warning. Reactor containment at ten percent. Core meltdown in five minutes”_

“Eli you have to leave now!”

“I’m _not_ leaving you Thrawn.”

“That was an order!” Thrawn barked, face twisted in anger,

“ _No_. Not listening Thrawn! I already said this, I’m not leaving you now. Not here. I’ve almost got this…”

“ _Warning. Reactor containment at eight percent. Core meltdown in four minutes”_

Thrawn had had enough with Eli's insubordination and hooked an arm around his torso in an iron embrace, dragging him away from his station. Eli fought in his arms and looked up at his admiral.

“Thrawn, no! You- you don’t get to just come into my life, sweep me off my feet, and leave me like this! I love you, Thrawn and I’m not…” his confidence wavering but still he continued on, “I’m not going to let you die out here alone.”

Thrawn's grip on him fell slack in an instant, his jaw open in mute shock. If he lived beyond the next five minutes, Eli knew he would never see such an expression on Thrawn's face again. The chiss looked... hopeful? Pleased? If his math and codes were correct Eli would have the time to think on it.

“As you wish… Eli. We will see this through together then. I am honored to have met you in this lifetime and that, and that-” Thrawn stuttered, he actually _stuttered_ , “my heart has belonged to you for a long, long time."

So this is what it felt like to feel every possible emotion all at once. Stars, Eli hoped his math was right. They really needed to live long enough to continue this discussion.

There it was! The solution in the code. “I think I’ve got it...” Eli turned away from Thrawn to keep entering in commands through the engineering relay. Thrawn looked at him open mouthed and in shock. He breathed out for a moment.

“You continue to exceed my wildest dreams, Eli Vanto. I am honored to be worthy of—“ he was cut off by the comm blaring:

“ _Warning. Reactor containment at six percent. Core meltdown in three minutes.”_

“—my heart has always been yours.” 

Eli blinked at the words and stopped typing for a moment. Processing Thrawn’s confession “Kriff, why didn’t we say anything sooner?” and then he resumed furiouslt typing.

“ _Warning. Reactor containment at four percent. Core meltdown in two minutes.”_

“Done! I got it! The reactor should reset right before it blows. No need to order the hard reboot at two percent.”

“Are you certain?” Thrawn asked, stoically trying to mask his hope.

“I’m as certain as I am about all the other things I just said.” Eli looked up at Thrawn with dark intensity.

“Very well, I will not initiate the reboot. We are in this now, together.”

“ _Warning. Reactor containment at two percent. Core meltdown in one minute.”_

“We always have been, Thrawn.” Eli smiled up at him and Thrawn reached over to Eli and held his hand. All they could do now was wait, their eyes torn between the system displays and one another.

“ _Warning. Reactor containment at one percent. Core meltdown in thirty seconds.”_

_“Ten”_

_“Nine”_

_“Eight”_

_“Seven”_

_“Six”_

_“Five”_

_“Reactor core contained”_

They collapsed into each other and slid down onto the floor in an exhausted, triumphant heap. Eli erupted in nervous laughter and absently wondered how his body was so suddenly engulfed in Thrawn’s embrace?

Thrawn looked down at Eli and smiled, no, _beamed_ at him. He pushed and lock of hair out of his eyes, leaned forward, and kissed him. 

_Oh_.

Eli kissed him back.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're alive? They're alive! 
> 
> Here’s a bonus bit that didn’t make the cut, Thrawn addressing the entire crew under the assumption that he and Eli are about to die:  
>  _“This is Mitth’raw’nuruodo speaking. A warrior fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” Thrawn glanced over to Eli then and Eli squeezed his hand, affirming his presence while Thrawn continued speaking into the comm, addressing all thirty-thousand crew at once: “One never knows the ending, like the stars I shall end but you will begin anew. It has been my privilege to serve you all. Farewell.”_
> 
> Thanks for your patience with this update everyone, I hope you're all doing okay and really appreciate your comments and feedback! 💕


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy to be alive, Eli and Thrawn troubleshoot the Chimaera’s technical issues and their different respective anatomy.

He laughed and it was a breathy, sparkling sound, like when sunlight catches on water, like he can't believe that this is his life. Like it can't get any better.

“Stars, Thrawn. I- I’ve wanted this for so long and we, we’re alive!” 

“Yes Eli, we are alive” Thrawn smiled back and held the smaller man tighter, snaking a hand around his neck. They were reclined in a tangled pile of limbs, breathing heavily and sweaty from exertion. And alive, so very alive. His other hand was still holding Eli’s face and he kissed him deeply. He would make his adoration and gratitude known.

“I’m so glad--”Eli began to respond, before Thrawn shushed him with another kiss. Thrawn kissed Eli like it was his job, the intense weight of his focus centered on him. He kissed Eli the way he went into battle, observing every detail and making minor adjustments to his plan of attack. Too exuberant to simply roll over, Eli surged into Thrawn’s arms and rolled over onto him, straddling him with his legs. Thrawn kept his vice grip on Eli’s neck, holding him in place above him and pressing up against him.

Then Thrawn released his hold on Eli’s neck and let his fingers wander through Eli’s sweat-damp hair. Eli sighed at the pinpricks of Thrawn’s fingernails on his scalp and Thrawn’s eyes flashed, he smiled up at Eli and gently tugged at his hair harder, manipulating his head in order to provide him access to the column of his throat.

Thrawn’s lips were hot on Eli’s skin as he placed hungry, wanting kisses along his throat. Eli hummed in approval as Thrawn nibbled on his pulse point, his teeth sparking a line of fire direct from his neck to his stomach. Eli rolled his hips down against Thawn and melted into the steel grip of his embrace, pressing his body flush against Thrawn’s chest, as if his mission in life now was to have every inch of their bodies touching each other.

Eli’s moan turned into a bit of a needy growl as he chased after Thrawn’s lips, savoring their softness in his mouth. Not to be distracted, Thrawn’s clever fingers were undoing the sealing strip of Eli's tunic, his lips eager to explore and taste the newly-exposed skin.

They twisted and grappled for control, each taking and ceding power from one another, languidly tumbling until they were lying side by side, facing each other. Eli’s hands were on Thrawn’s ass, and it was _perfect_ \- larger than he’d imagined, firmer too, with just the right amount of give for him to dig his nails into. At that sensation, Thrawn exhaled and moaned, loudly. The Thrawn in Eli's fantasies was never vocal like this and Eli loved it. It was a sound that went right to his core and ignited like wildfire, he wanted to, needed time, hear it again. He pressed himself bodily against Thrawn who returned the action in kind, the two of them soon rocking against each other, Thrawn's hands traveling down to settle on Eli's hip and ass as well.

They were desperately rutting against each other now. In their frantic desperation to touch and kiss every inch of one another, they rolled across the deck and Eli found himself on top of Thrawn, or Thrawn had pulled Eli on top of him?

Eli settled on top of Thrawn and wrapped his legs around his admiral’s waist. He tangled his fingers in Thrawn's hair, and kissed him like his life depended on it. This was nothing, _nothing_ , like kissing Thrawn in his fantasies, the two were not even comparable. In his fantasies, Thrawn had kissed Eli like he wanted to break him, if he deigned him worthy of being kissed at all. Here, on the floor of the bridge, Thrawn kissed Eli like he was the only person in the galaxy that mattered, full of fiery protectiveness that burned Eli to his core.

The blue hand on Eli's hip had migrated over to his thigh, so near his straining erection, causing the fire in his core to burn hotter. Curious and inquisitive, Thrawn ghosted his hand over the bulge in Eli's pants. Eli gasped and looked down at his admiral. Thrawn looked up at him and dragged his gaze along Eli's body with a look Eli could only describe as wanton plotting. Eli shivered and fought to hold his gaze, knowing Thrawn could see in the infrared, that the waves of heat rolling off of him must have been blinding.

Understanding passed between them and Thrawn smirked then. The Chiss used his strength to roll them over again, and was on top Eli, pressing into him with the weight of his strong body. In their tumbling, code cylinders, comms, and that pesky knife Thrawn always kept in his boot all became dislodged. Thrawn reached over blindly and clumsily pushed the items out of the way. He then returned his hand to bracketing Eli's head and stared hungrily into brown eyes.

_There_ are was that predatory look Eli fantasized about so often. Eli whined and thrust up against Thrawn's body.

"I want you," he rasped out, head spinning with desire. Thrawn's predatory look suddenly softened.

Thrawn’s hands were resting at the clasps of Eli’s trousers, his thumbs rubbing casual circles around his hip bones. The proud Chiss warrior looked almost sheepish for a moment as he shot a questioning look to Eli for consent. 

If Eli had not been so far gone by this point, he would have found Thrawn’s look adorable, instead it only stoked the fire of his need. “Touch me,” he demanded and Thrawn obliged, first curiously investigating methodically and then more spontaneously, like a dancer performing. Thrawn brought his hands from Eli’s hips down to the heat pooling between his legs, a hand settling on the hot stiffness in his pants and Eli jerked into the touch. Eli gasped and pulled Thrawn down to bite greedy, wet kisses along his neck as he thrust into Thrawn's touch.

“Yeah, like that, more.”

Thrawn only smiled and continued his relaxed exploration of Eli's body. The Chiss's curiosity was insatiable, and Eli wanted to be satiated.

_"More_. Want to feel you on me. _Please_.” Unable to wait for Thrawn to finish his exploration, Eli fumbled with the clasps of his pants and freed himself from them and his underwear. Thrawn's eyes brightened, and his strong hand closed around Eli, whose eyes rolled back into his head at the touch. “I wanna feel you too, Thrawn,” he breathed.

“In time, Eli,” Thrawn murmured, kissing his temple. “I require quite a bit more-- stimulation. For now, this is more than adequate."

Thrawn ground his hips against Eli's and Eli felt a warmth spread between them, it was a pulsing kind of vibration from the junction of Thrawn’s legs. He rubbed his erection against the pulsing and Thrawn bit back a groan before grasping Eli harder.

"Yes, ah. That's it, mmm," Thrawn's voice trailed off into a wobbly purr as the heat between his legs intensified.

In no time, Eli was rutting against Thrawn, hard and fast, while Thrawn held Eli's cock and pressed the full length of his body against his commander. Thrawn's warmth and pulsing felt glorious, and soon Eli could feel two warm ridges rubbing against his cock. He gasped at the welcome new sensation and Thrawn sighed breathyly, panting into Eli's neck. 

Thrawn was enjoying the simulation just as much Eli was it seemed, his eyes slitted in pleasure. He deftly unclasped his trousers with one hand and tugged them down to expose himself.

Eli lifted an eyebrow, impressed that his admiral didn’t wear underwear. “ _Reall_ y Thrawn?” He breathed

“Underwear is a human convention Eli," Thrawn murmured into the Eli's ear, "I see no need to wear them myself and prefer to, how do you say—?” as he licked and nibbled at the shell of his ear, 

Eli's vision whited out and he laughed, then translated the sy Bisti words, “going commando, slang for not wearing any underwear. But I’m gonna have to think of a new phrase to use for you, and for this, will you tell me what feels good?” Eli appreciatively ran a hand up the inside of Thrawn’s thigh towards the two ridges and pressed against them. 

“Your instincts are on point so far,” Thrawn purred.

“Glad to hear it," Eli snarked back, and pulled Thrawn down for a heated kiss.  
  


“I find intense stimulation— _pleasurable_ ,” Thrawn breathed out in tight words when he finally came back for air. Thrawn then positioned Eli so that his cock was rubbing in between his two ridges, his exposed skin was so smooth against Eli. Eli smiled at the new sensation and kept thrusting against Thrawn’s hand and ridges. He felt the valley between the ridges deepen and _ah_ , Thrawn's slit was becoming more accessible and moist as the ridges unfurled. 

Eli was now thrusting against Thrawn's slit with abandon while Thrawn was _whining_ above him. He grabbed Eli’s cock and ground down on it forcefully, and groaned. His head tipped back in pleasure, Thrawn let out a keening moan. He had managed to impale himself with just the tip of Eli's cock. It was a tight and glorious fit, nestled inside Thrawn’s slit with his ridges pressed against Eli's shaft. Thrawn’s head was hanging back in abandon while Eli cried out, his hands grabbing onto Thrawn’s exposed ass as he fucked into Thrawn with fast and desperate short motions. In response to the stimulation, Thrawn sounded like a nexu in heat, his eyes closed as a cascade of growls and moans erupted from him.

He looked _magnificent_ in his pleasure.

Then there was a sudden vibration and _oh my stars_.

Eli came in Thrawn’s slit and his sense of reality imploded. Eli came. _In Thrawn._ On the bridge, both of them still in uniform. This must be what dying and ascending to the afterlife feels like, Eli thought vaguely as his vision whited out and slowly returned to him. Thrawn was still on all fours above him, his head hanging limply as he panted heavily against Eli's neck. 

And the glorious vibration happened again.

_Oh_.

The vibration was a comm.

A comm that and somehow gotten lodged underneath them and was vibrating because they were technically still on duty and actually very much not dead. _Oh_. Oops.

Flustered and gasping for air, Thrawn rolled off of Eli and reached for his comm. He took several deep breaths to steady his voice before answering. 

While Thrawn conversed with a very concerned Commodore Faro, Eli put himself in remotely-presentable order and stepped back to his workstation. There still was the matter of the reactors being hacked to deal with.

Thrawn finished speaking with Commodore Faro and stepped over to Eli's workstation. Carding a hand through Eli's hair, he asked his commander to update him on what he's found in the code for the main reactors. Eli and Thrawn looked over the data from the reactor logs and were able to override the encryptions that masked the sabotage.

Thrawn's face hardened in anger and disappointment when they found irrefutable proof that the Senior Engineering officer had sabotaged the reactor computer to cause the meltdown. Thankfully, Senior Lieutenant Burns was not good enough at coding for Eli not to have been able to fix the issue in time. It was still a close save, and Thrawn would remember this lesson. In his efforts to plan safety drills for the crew, he had not taken into account that he might need to save the crew from themselves. It was a dark lesson indeed.

Senior Lieutenant Burns would suffer the consequences of endangering Thrawn's crew.

Thrawn looked across the workstation to Eli before keying in a command. A light blinked on a panel, and Thrawn keyed a response back in confirmation before opening a holo channel to _The Springlark_. Images of Commander Faro and the _Springlark's_ captain Sahale flashed before then. 

“Commander Faro, Captain Sahale, Commander Vanto and I were able to save the Chimaera and and determine the point of failure in this simulation.” Thrawn addressed the two worried-looking humans staring back at him, noting their twin looks of bewilderment and wonder. Then, the three Imperials exchanged a series of code phrases to verify that the transmission was indeed secure and that there was no one else listening. Eli noted the brief flick of Karyn’s eyes in his direction as they spoke, that her gaze drifted to his and Thrawn’s unbuttoned tunics, but that she kept her expression neutral.

“Captain Sahale, deploy the _Springlark’s_ accompaniment of TIEs to round up all escape pods containing Sr Lieutenant Burns and their crew. Tractor the pods aboard and have a unit of troopers on hand to receive them. Place Burns’s crew in empty cabins as they are available on your ship- they are to be kept comfortable for the time being but not allowed outside communication or further explanation until you receive direct word from myself, Commander Faro, or Colonel Yularen. Sr Lieutenant Burns is to be escorted directly to the brig.” Thrawn orderd.

“Yes sir!”

“Commodore Faro, see to it that all the _Chimaera’s_ pods are accounted for. For now, the _Springlark_ will be the task force’s temporary point of command until the _Chimaera_ is fully-operational. Captain Sahale will defer to your orders as needed. Contact the local system government on organizing the retrieval process, you will likely need to requisition additional support. When the senior engineers are safely aboard, follow their recommendations for repairing and recrewing the _Chimaera_. When you feel the situation with retrieving the crew is under control, send a report of the incident to High Command by way of Colonel Yularen- he will have recommendations for how to deal with our…unique complications.”

"Yes sir!"

"Thank you Commodore, Captain. Do we have an estimate on when crews will be available to see to the _Chimaera_?" Thrawn asked.

Captain Sahale frowned, "looks like you'll be on your own for the next four to eight hours sir. This sector of space is low on Imperial resources unfortunately. The nearest cruisers to assist with the rescue operation are still two hours out. Sensors indicate the Chimaera is stable at least. Other than floating in space and watching us work from the viewports, I think you're out of action for now sir. Apologies, sir."

"None needed Captain. I will defer to your expertise in the matter. Now, I do not wish to take up more of your time, commanders, commander Vanto and I will be fine on the Chimaera for the time being, do not feel you need to waste resources on entertaining us. My comm channel is open, but save it's use for emergencies only. I would like some time alone to reflect on Senior Lieutenant Burns's treachery and the errors in my plans. Do we have an understanding?"

Captain Sahale and Commodore Faro nodded in agreement. They would turn their attention to retrieving the escape pods and would comm Thrawn with an update in four hours. For now, all Thrawn and Eli could do was sit and wait. The holos vanished and Thrawn clicked his comm off, he turned around to look at Eli for a moment, holding his gaze in soft wonder before speaking.

"Well Eli, I believe we have our orders. Do you think we will be able to find an amenable way to pass the time?"

Eli smiled at Thrawn and stepped closed to him as he spoke. “You know, this might sound crazy but I’ve always thought about what I’d do if it were ever just you an' me up here on the bridge.”

Thrawn quirked an eyebrow at him in challenge. “Oh? And what would exactly would you do, Eli Vanto?”

Eli blushed and then laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Well, I’ve thought of a few things actually. Sitting on your lap and kissing you in your command chair- maybe also uh, not just kissing your lips but uh,” Thrawn smiled and pulled Eli tight against him, encouraging him to keep sharing.

“And I’ve thought about just grabbing your face kissing you on the catwalk about the crew pits, while the crew is all working below because damn, I’ve wanted you so much. And I’ve thought of starin’ out into the stars pressed up against the viewport with you behind me and inside me...” 

Thrawn hummed happily, considering. 

“Well my dear, we appear to have plenty of time at our disposal. Your cleverness has saved the ship, and my life today.” Thrawn leaned over and kissed Eli's temple. The next words he spoke darkly, “and to the victor go the spoils, I am yours to command.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: no more plot and only sex. Yeehaw!

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to say hi on Tumblr, I’m @WildSpaceYokel


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